Harold Davis's Blog, page 19
November 4, 2022
The Curve at the End of the Country Lane
I photographed Country Lane (shown below) adjacent to a castle that is fairly close by. The overall lighting, mood, and feeling of the image reminds me of Road Less Traveled (shown at the bottom, and blogged here).
Country Lane © Harold Davis
While the feeling may be similar, there is a difference in the meta-story this pair of images convey. With Road Less Traveled, a choice is presented, presumably in the life of the viewer, or maybe—more autobiographically—in my life. The exhortation to myself was to choose a path less taken, and embark on the life of an artist, to pursue beauty, rather than to follow the easier direction of a more conventional career. The appeal to the viewer is to consider carefully what is really important, and to make choices that are commensurate with their best possible life.
In contrast, Country Lane presents no choices. It’s as if everything is preordained. The path has already been chosen. But if you squint hard, you can see there is a curve at the end of the road, where country lane meets the horizon and vanishing point, with a slight emphasis of brightness.
What lies ahead, around the curve? That’s hard to say, and may be different for each of us. But my sense of the image is optimistic, as if it is saying that the best is yet to come.
Road Less Traveled © Harold Davis
November 2, 2022
Himbachel Viaduct
Today I photographed a marvelous train viaduct, built in the 1800s using the same engineering principles that the Romans used. The Himbachel Viaduct is still in use by trains today. Photographically, a structure this huge and out of scale with the landscape offers a real challenge in composition—figuring out how to be harmonious while still conveying the immensity of the site.
Himbachel Viaduct (Monochrome) © Harold Davis
October 31, 2022
Just Call Me Angel
Baden-Baden is a prosperous spa town at the edge of the Black Forest and near Germany’s border with France. A famous place to try to recuperate from tuberculosis in the nineteenth century, Dostoevsky lost his shirt at the casino in Baden-Baden. More recently, Baden-Baden has once again been favored by rich Russians.
Dark Angel from Baden-Baden © Harold Davis
October 28, 2022
The Three Castles
A short trail through the woods leads to the ruins of the Three Castles—more like three towers, really—that are perched on a ridge above Eguisheim, Alsace, France. The structures date to the 1200s, and they were “destroyed in 1466 in the ‘Six Deniers War'” [according to the signage]. Memo to self: look up the Six Deniers War, it sounds very Game of Thrones-like.
Ruins of the Three Castles © Harold Davis
October 25, 2022
Arriving in Strasbourg
I got some decent sleep on the long-haul flight over to Paris, and at the airport caught the train to Strasbourg. Strasbourg is the capital of Alsace, a region of France on the border with Germany. I had to change trains once. My hotel in Strasbourg is in an area known as La Petite France—notable for canals, picturesque and very old buildings, and the tourist trade.
La Petite France © Harold Davis
I wakened to thunder and lightening the first morning, in my room perched high above the old city. As the day slowly dawned, I watched the dark clouds scuttle across the sky. Very dramatic.
Stormy Morning in Strasbourg (Color Version) © Harold Davis
The tower of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Strasbourg was the highest building in Europe until the nineteenth century, and a marvelous Gothic spire it is! I climbed three hundred steps to the platform below the spire, where in olden times guards lived 24/7 to watch the city for fires, and the horizon for enemies. Strasbourgians, if that is the right term, came up here for picnics on holidays. Today, it is a perfect location for photographing the rooftops of ancient Strasbourg from above.
Rooftop © Harold Davis
There’s plenty to see and photograph in Strasbourg without climbing towards the sky. Wandering the twisting streets a few blocks from my hotel I was intrigued by the optical pattern made by the wood design in an antique door.
Op Door © Harold Davis
October 20, 2022
Dreaming of Venice
I’m beyond excited about heading back to Europe in a few days for an extensive photography trip that will include one of my favorite cities, Venice. May the photographic stars, weather Gods, and assorted creative juices (all of which combine to be “the Force”) be with me!
Venice Canal © Harold Davis
October 19, 2022
2023 | Off-the-Beaten Track Japan Photography Journey with Harold Davis
What: Step into the fabled Japan of myth and legend. Journey back in time to a Japan that few westerners are familiar with. Join a small group of compatible photographers led by Harold Davis and a professional guide for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Click here for the detailed day-by-day trip itinerary (“Prospectus”) and here for the Reservation Form. Our in-country partner is Oku Japan.
When: Sunday October 15 – Wednesday October 25, 2023.
Where: We meet at our hotel in Tokyo, Japan. After exploring the new and old sides of Tokyo, we’ll travel back in time through the Japanese Alps via the ancient Nakasendo way. We’ll visit well-preserved villages in the Kiso Valley, Matsumoto Castle, the castle town of Takayama, and the World Heritage site of Shirakawa-go. Following a stop in the culturally important city of Kanazawa, we will wrap up the destination photo workshop with a dreamlike visit to the gardens and temples of Kyoto, where the tour will end. For full details, please see the Prospectus.
Group Size: This is an exclusive, small photo workshop (non-photographer significant others are also welcome) with very limited space availability (the minimum group size is six and the maximum is twelve).
How to Register: Please send us an email expressing interest right away; a completed registration requires a $1000 deposit, the trip Reservation Form, a copy of your Covid vaccination card, and a copy of your currently valid passport page.
Pricing & Early-Bird Discount: We are pleased to keep the pricing at the same level as 2022, and to offer an early-bird discount by November 30, 2022. Please see the Reservation Form for details.
About the ancient Nakasendo Trail:
Where will this path lead us? The town of Magome hugs the side of the mountain, and the Nakasendo Trail here is lined by inns, wood crafters, and small eating establishments. What waits beyond? The ancient signboards at the top of the town warn travelers the rules of travel with an admonishment to be on your best behavior in town. Now, as you head out of Magome, your journey really begins – views over mountain peaks give way to the ancient Nakasendo as it winds behind farmhouses and small shrines lovingly tended by their neighbours. You pass waterfalls, and stands of bamboo and you walk a section of old paving stones. The path is wide like a smile, welcoming you into the woods.Will you have long conversations with your friends, perhaps new, perhaps old? Will you listen as the cicadas or the crickets or the frogs sing to you?—Oku Japan
Step into the fabled Japan of myth and legend. Journey back in time to a Japan that few westerners are familiar with. Join a small group of compatible photographers led by Harold Davis and a professional guide for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Our in-country partner is the very well-regarded off-the-beaten track Japan travel specialist, Oku Japan.
Please consider joining us October 15-25, 2023 now that Japan is open. This is a small group with high demand, but we still have a few spaces available. Please call or drop us an email right away if you are interested. This is a unique opportunity, and we will be privileged to make this journey.
Starting in Tokyo, we will end in Kyoto. Travel is by gentle trail (with luggage transport), train, and where appropriate private vehicle. We meet at our hotel in Tokyo, Japan. After exploring the new and old sides of Tokyo, we’ll travel back in time through the Japanese Alps via the ancient Nakasendo way. We’ll visit well-preserved villages in the Kiso Valley, Matsumoto Castle, the castle town of Takayama, and the World Heritage site of Shirakawa-go. Following a stop in the culturally important city of Kanazawa, we will wrap up the destination photo workshop with a dreamlike visit to the gardens and temples of Kyoto, where the tour will end.
Click here for more information, here for the detailed day-by-day trip itinerary (“Prospectus”) and here for the Reservation Form.
October 17, 2022
Fire Engine Restoration
My Maine Media Workshops Composition & Photography group visited an antique fire engine restoration atelier housed in a large barn. I gather this is one of the few antique fire engine restoration workshops in the country.
Fire Engine Restoration © Harold Davis
Mostly, these vintage engines are used in parades. In the image below you can see a framed painting on the wall showing a horse drawn fire engine from the “good old days”—what some of these fire engines must have looked like in their own time.
Fire Engine Restoration 2 © Harold Davis
While the workshop seemed a bit chaotic, it is remarkable the care they were taking in restoring these old engines to their full glory!
Enough Is Enough © Harold Davis
October 12, 2022
(Digital) Darkroom Prowess
The two very different images shown in this story have something in common: digital darkroom prowess. In other words, both images make extensive use of post-production tools and techniques to arrive at a “look” that seems fairly natural. As a side note here, even naturalness is a concept that depends upon expectations, cultural awareness, and individual sensibilities.
Tripping the Glass Fantastic © Harold Davis
High-end photography has always relied on post-production. Very little imagery looks its best straight from the camera. Anyone who is still skeptical of digital photography should note that this was as true for wet, chemical photography as it is for digital. A large part of the art is (and was) in post, whether on the computer or in the darkroom.
Lonely Tree © Harold Davis
Photographic composition, analyzed in my recent book on the subject, is one of the least mutable parts of the photographic discipline, but even in composition there is no categorical certainty of alignment with “reality,” whether the image relates to party leaders snipped from history following the show trials of old Bolsheviks, the wonderful fantasies of Jerry Uelsmann, or my own Impossible images.
I’ll be demonstrating some of the most important post-production tools I use in an upcoming webinar, Out in the World: The Making of Four Photos.
October 9, 2022
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is a World Heritage Site, and believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited structure in North America. The core of the present adobe complex was probably initially built between 1000 and 1450 A.D.
The church of San Geronimo de Taos, shown at the bottom, is the third church built on the site, and dates to 1850 (although the Spanish first assigned a missionary priest to Taos Pueblo in 1598).
Taos Pueblo © Harold Davis
Taos Pueblo 2 © Harold Davis
San Geronimo de Taos © Harold Davis
